Where can you have your ceremony?

Your ceremony, your way…

Your questions answered

Coastal Ceremonies

What services can Coastal Ceremonies offer?

Our role as accredited celebrants is to ensure your ceremony reflects you both as a couple. Coastal Ceremonies can help you bring your ideas and vision to life and create a ceremony that you and your guests will never forget. We can officiate at non religious, semi-religious or mixed faith ceremonies and include any cultural additions or traditions that are meaningful to you both, such as hand fasting, sand ceremony and so on. Coastal Ceremonies can also officiate at a commitment ceremony, vow renewal or a baby naming ceremony.

Depending on availability, we can be booked 7 days a week. Coastal Ceremonies are based in Co. Clare with the Wild Atlantic Way on our doorstep so there are no shortage of amazing places to have your ceremony. From hotels, restaurants, beaches, cliffs, the choices are endless.

What is the process once we get in touch with Coastal Ceremonies?

Once you get in touch, we will arrange a face to face meeting or Skype call which usually takes around 1 ½ hours to 2 hours. During this consultation we talk through your ceremony from start to finish. What ideas you both have, who you want to include in your ceremony, what readings you were thinking about, the music you both love, ceremony enhancements you would like to include and so on. Coastal Ceremonies have so many resources for you to use; a booklet of suggested poems, readings and song lyrics, advice on how to write your own vows if you so wish, recommended suppliers including photographers, make-up artists, musicians.

After our consultation we write and create your ceremony from scratch and send you the first draft for your review. Leading up to your big day, we go back and forth making any amendments and additions. We plan another call a few weeks before your ceremony where we finalise the ceremony. Coastal Ceremonies will be at your venue an hour before the start of the ceremony to ensure all is in hand and to reassure anyone with last minute nerves ? We are available to chat, email, meet from the first day we talk right up to the day itself.

How much input do we have in to the ceremony?

Coastal Ceremonies will work with you to provide advice, suggestions and resources and will write the full ceremony from start to finish for you both with your input. It is your day and whether we are writing a wedding ceremony, commitment ceremony, vow renewal or baby naming ceremony, you have full control. Your Ceremony, Your Way.

Will our ceremony be legally binding?

At present, under the “Marriage Provisions of Civil Registration Act 2004” IIOC celebrants have not been granted the authority to legally sign your marriage certificate. However, we do anticipate this changing.

Because we are not legally permitted to sign your marriage certificate, we are able to conduct your dream wedding ceremony in your choice of venue with very limited restrictions. If you want to get married on the Cliffs of Moher, in your back garden, or on the grounds of a castle, we can conduct your ceremony. The choices are endless (almost!).

How do we get married legally in Ireland?

All of the information on legal marriages in Ireland is on the HSE website. Irrespective of whether you are an Irish citizen or a foreign national, anyone marrying in Ireland must give three months notification before they marry. You must make this notification in person to any Registrar.

There are different legal ways of getting married in Ireland; you may choose a religious ceremony, a secular (non-religious) ceremony or a civil (legal) ceremony. Whatever way you choose to marry, (i.e., through a civil, secular or religious ceremony), the registration process is the same.

You are issued with a Marriage Registration Form (MRF) by the Registrar, following the notification appointment, which gives you authorisation to get married. This document is then passed onto a HSE registered solemniser, who will witness the signing of this document so if you are legally marrying at a Registry office, this signing will take place there.

If you choose a celebrant from Coastal Ceremonies, you can complete the legal signing at a registry office before or after your dream ceremony. This means that you would need to arrange an initial appointment with the HSE to give notification (which everyone has to do), then later a second appointment to sign your legal documents.

What is a civil marriage?

A religious marriage is a ceremony that takes place in a church, but it is followed by the signing of the civil marriage register, which is the civil (or legally binding) part. A civil marriage takes place in a registry office or other approved venue, and can also incorporate a celebrant to perform a ceremony for family and friends.

Requirements for Marriage?

If you are an Irish citizen and normally resident in Ireland, you must be at least 18 years old to get married. The age rule remains the same, irrespective of whether or not you are married in a religious, secular or civil ceremony. Additionally you must also have the capacity to marry which means you must freely consent to the marriage and have the capacity to understand what marriage means. There is no requirement to live in the specific district where you want to get married.

What are your fees and when do you require payment.

Our fees for a wedding ceremony, an elopement or a commitment ceremony are €500 * which include the initial consultation, ceremony creation and celebrating your wedding.

Our fees for a vow renewal ceremony are €500 * which include the initial consultation, ceremony creation and officiating your ceremony.

Our fees for a baby naming ceremony are €350 * which include the initial consultation, ceremony creation and officiating your ceremony.

A booking fee (which is non refundable) of €200 is required to secure your ceremony date and can be paid by cash, cheque, bank transfer** or PayPal**. The remaining balance is paid at least four weeks in advance of the scheduled ceremony.

*Depending on the location of your ceremony there may be travel and accommodation expenses.

** Please note, there will be a small administration cost added to the total cost if you choose to pay by bank transfer (bank dependent) or PayPal.

Additional Services

If you are planning your ceremony from abroad, or eloping, or just don’t know where to start with choosing venues, musicians, photographers, make-up artists and so on, Coastal Ceremonies can work with you to manage your big day.Get in touch with us today and we can talk through your requirements. Fees will apply and will depend on your requirements.

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”